Nima's Blog, Nima's Creative Visualization was a breath of fresh air. It reminded me to feel open to uncertainty and that I will find my way regardless of what comes my way. I was inspired by the calmness I sensed in Nima's writing and the quote "I will have reached a place that feels like me," really connected with me and my journey. I will make room for calmness and being open to what feels right. Tim's Blog Tim's Creative Visualization inspired me about the power of relocation and that I can jump fully into a new venture. I reflected on ow taking ownership of my physical location can affect how I feel about myself and that I'm in charge of my life and to use my resources of community to support me.
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Seth’s Blog Like Mary Shelley
This post addressed the innovators the likes of Mary Shelly, Henry Ford, Google and Tesla and how this particular groups or individuals were so revolutionary, people wanted to be the Google of _____. This highlighted the idea that being someone who does something different, inspires others to follow in your footsteps. Zen Habits Resting in the Open Nature of Life This blog was all about how as humans we are full of stress and anxiety because everything is unstable. However, this post then gave steps on how to rest in the fluid openness of it all. It gave some examples like, “we can try to box the blue sky or rest in its openness.” Quiet Revolution When your Ideal Self isn’t your Real Self This was the story of Annabel Pitcher coming to terms with the fact that she is not the extrovert she thought she was. She had for years presented herself as a fun, loving up for anything classic extrovert. Yet she often found herself relishing introverted activities. Though the post she comes to terms with being proud of how she is, instead of forcing herself to be the “ideal” version of herself. For me, all these blogs really connected with the Socratic questioning work we did this week. Asking myself the nature of “Why” is reflected in the all three of these blogs. Rather than forcing ourselves into a quick answer each blog addresses the allowing of the new, different and openness to guide us on our path. I’ve still been resonating with the labeling work we did last week and these blogs brought up those thoughts again for me. The idea that we try to label things to make sense of them, when really we don’t need to label people or ourselves because we are beyond definition of the words that we as humans could create. 11.3 Blog Knowing Others
Seth’s Blog Speakerphone Voice In this blog, Seth notes how people tend to shout when given the microphone or are using a speakerphone instead of allowing the technology to do what it is meant to do which would then let ourselves be our actual selves instead of amplifying ourselves into false versions. This self-amplification can affect how people listen and trust us. I wanted to remark that I do disagree, which is something I rarely do in general, with his assumption of speakerphone and microphone voice being similar, if not the same. I see every day in my work holding townhall-style questions that most people do not amplify themselves when given a hand-held microphone. In fact, most people hold it like a live snake or pointing tool. This was important that I address because I do agree that on speakerphones when people cannot be SEEN by their audience that they tend to over amplify, yet I observe in my work when people can be seen and are given a microphone they tend to not use their voice assuming just being near a microphone gives them the attention. When I coach people on presentation skills, we work a lot with how to handle a microphone to imagine it not just a tool for volume but also as a spotlight, yet you are in control of both. Which I think does dovetail into the ideas that Seth is talking about with how people present themselves, and in relation to the work we did this week in class, it’s important to recognize that when people are given a microphone or spotlight, they may not have the training to confidence in themselves or their tools. Quiet Revolution: What Paul Newman Taught me about Introversion This blog recounted the author, Beth Rhine’s, experience meeting Paul Newman at a donor event. The author is an introvert and worried about impressing Paul Newman. She then later realized that famous actor Paul Newman had a reputation for being an introvert. She comments that her story isn’t about Paul Newman, but as she saw parts of herself reflected in him like not staying around for the boisterous campfire, finding quiet moments and having small group conversations. This connects with the work this week about bringing people together. It relates to how seeing similar things in other can help you create a triad, or understand them because they are similar to you. The practice in creating triads and making the effort to get to know others is emphasized for me in reading these blogs. Zen Habits: The Key Mental Habit of Simplicity This post was all about the mental awareness it takes to move forward on simplifying. While the focus of the blog was mainly on how to prevent ourselves from buying unnecessary things, it was ultimately about how we humans react to trying to control uncertainty. Keeping ourselves open to uncertainty is certainly something that has been a journey for me in this course. I am a planner, thinker, researcher and I know sometimes, maybe usually, that is to alleviate some sense of no control. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I work on trying to connect with people on a personal level and creating triads in this class in in the “real world.” I often worry about how two people I introduce to each other will react and if they will blame me if something bad happens, so I go down a spiral of overthinking at catastrophizing. Yet, this blog reminds me to make space for uncertainly because I can never control it. Seth’s Blog The work not yet done http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2017/11/on-the-work-not-yet-done.html
This week Seth’s blog is about the underlying reasons projects don’t move forward. The blog touches on a number of reasons but settles on the prevailing idea that things don’t move forward, or aren’t completed or put into action because we are afraid to do what needs to be done. Seth writes that the most urgent work is “dancing with our fear” because that is the reason things aren’t getting done. In this blog, I immediately thought about the poem by The Dance by Giles Hutchins. I thought of it because it is called The Dance and Seth’s blog is about dancing, but dancing is a scary activity yet one that can bring joy and a sense of accomplishment. As a writer, I responded strongly to the choice to end the poem with “said he,” as it is a poem full of instructions, the leader was put as last as possible. Which to connect it with Seth’s blog is about fear, I think a lot of us as leaders are afraid to take a back seat, to not be loud, to let the ideas, instructions speak for themselves. Zen Habits: Simplify your Digital Life https://zenhabits.net/simplify-digital/ Thought this blog ultimately was a promo for a new course, it raised some interesting ideas in the conundrums of digital life, like needing to work online yet wanting to sever the digital connection. This blog made me think of the idea of looking to weakness to find your leadership strengths. I challenged myself to look at what this blog was discussing, “how to simplify your digital life.” So, I thought what if if you have FOMO and are always on Facebook, how can that be a strength? I thought, that would be a strength for someone who was looking to change careers to be inspired by others, to get good at social media skills for those types of jobs and to see how diverse of lives people are living. WE work a lot with this in the improv work I do through the idea of ‘reframing,” taking what looks like a “bad” gift and finding a way to make it useful. Quiet Revolution Introvert Strategies for Extroverted Play The article gave examples and strategies for introverts to enjoy activities that on the surface don’t seem like a good fit for them. It was very specific in how martial arts is really more of a mind concentration and strategy game, vs a boisterous combat sport. For me This article straight up connected to the using your weakness to see your strength. Introverts often feel as if they are at a disadvantage when they can learn to reframe that and see it as a sign of leadership. I’m an introvert but I know that I can use that to my advantage because it makes me a good listener and observer. This skill is especially useful in meetings when I can take in the big picture of what is happening. Week 9: A9.1 FLIP Manifesto Relates to Weekly Blogs Seth’s Blog Stuntvertising This blog covered the fascination in advertising to measure likes and shares. Seeking likes or shares requires advertisers to always being pulling stunts, rather than looking at results like actual purchases of the products. This resonates with me because in the field I work in every time I talk to a marketing person or an executive they are always talking about likes and shares. I also have friends that are obsessed with likes and shares on their personal content. Yet, I am not a likes and shares person, yes, I do enjoy the rush of seeing the number go up on each photo, but I don’t define my success at it. Nor do I delete it if it doesn’t get a certain number of likes as a lot of people do on their personal pages. For me, this relates to the idea of approval, which relates to the entire idea of the FLIP-Manifesto in that the “old” way of doing things may not actually be the most effective. Much like the FLIP-Manifesto idea of “pay people enough to take money off the table,” maybe if we created advertising and communication without the expectation of a number of likes we could communicate in a clear, effective, sustainable way. Zen Habits Creating the Elegance of Simplicity and Focus in Your Work Day This post was all about the benefits of simplicity and focus. Even more importantly the post gave concrete steps to streamline one’s smartphone and computer. This spoke to me in two ways. The first, I have a problem of doing too many things at once and easily getting distracted. And secondly, on a Creative Leadership level this blog did something a lot of ‘advice’ blogs don’t do, it gave step by step how-to instructions. One of my personal leadership mission statements is to “give people the tools they need to succeed,” when I am want them to do something. This blog is an example of that. It’s one thing when people or leaders or internet articles make impassioned statements and then leave to reader to wonder “well, how do I do that.” But sharing the resources to actually to the things to me is the sign of leadership. As it relates to FLIP-Manifesto, I must say I was nearly in tears with I read this paragraph: “At Netflix, the vacation policy is audaciously simple and simply audacious. Salaried employees can take as much time off as they'd like, whenever they want to take it. Nobody—not employees themselves, not managers—tracks vacation days. In other words, Netflix's holiday policy is to have no policy at all. If that sounds like a recipe for anarchic stew, devoid of essential workplace nutrients such as temperance and hard work, think again. In its own way, Netflix's non-policy is more attuned to the nature of 21st century work, and even to the values of industriousness and self-discipline, than its sterner counterparts. Back in the old days—2004—Netflix treated holidays the old-fashioned way: it allotted everyone N days a year. You either used them up—or you duked it out with accounting to try to get paid for the time you didn't consume. But eventually some employees recognized that this arrangement was at odds with how they really did their jobs. After all, they were responding to emails on weekends, they were solving problems online at night at home. And every so often, they would take off an afternoon to ferry a child to the pediatrician or to check in on an ageing parent.” The reason I left a job I loved and believed in was because I was a salaried manager working 70+ hours a week for nine months of the year and yet when I wanted to take time off I was told “we don’t take time off here.” It broke my heart and my spirit to be told my life was not important compared to the company. This is idea of simply not having a policy cleared up the unnecessary and time-wasting nonsense around PTO. Just like in the blog about simplicity and focus, Netflix uses that in a bigger way to free up employee’s energies for the things that are important life and Netflix. Quiet Revolution The Power of Moments This was an interview with the authors of the book, The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. Their point of view is that the moments that we remember through our whole lives are those that make the greatest impact. They then give advice on how to create more peak moments and positive experiences. They also talk about defining moments aren’t always things like winning the big game, saying “I do” or experience a beautiful nature moment, defining moments can be small parts of everyday life that you remember through your whole life. This blog also enforced my belief that a leader “gives people the tools they need to succeed” because they outline ways to create more defining moments in your life by breaking from your script and pushing beyond small talk. I connected this to the FLIP-Manifesto chapter about Netflix, “Employees typically don't need to get approval to spend money on entertainment, travel, or gifts. Instead, the guidance is simpler: act in Netflix's best interest. It sounds delightfully adult. And it is — in every regard. People who don't produce are shown the door. "Adequate performance," the company says, "gets a generous severance package.” The phrase “Act in Netflix’s best interest” is a very powerful motivation, in a sense for me if I worked there and was told that I that would be a “defining moment.” It would be feeling as if I was important, yet had a goal. |
Heather meyer
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